When it comes to the reasons for foot binding, there are probably four aspects: aesthetic requirements, gender segregation system, the promotion of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, and the promotion of virgin hobbies.
Han people have been pursuing the beauty of women's figure for a long time, and there are countless poems praising women's beautiful figure and light steps in past dynasties. The admiration of the rulers of the Song Dynasty also played a great role. The royal family and the upper class in the Song Dynasty first began to bind their feet.
Su Shi's Bodhisattva Man chanting Buddha's Feet calls women's feet "palace-shaped", and Cao Yuanchong calls them "official" in a poem, which also shows that foot-binding originated from the upper class in the Song Dynasty, such as bureaucrats and nobles.
Mr. Lin Yutang once described the gait of women after foot-binding: China women's foot-binding completely changed women's style and gait. "Its role is equivalent to that of modern girls wearing high heels, which produces a very stiff and beautiful gait, making the whole body fragile and wobbly, producing a subtle feeling."
It was this "sense of pity" that inflated the sense of superiority of feudal literati. Therefore, it gave birth to "the highest secret of sexual ideal"
Extended data:
Influence of foot binding
1, body and mind: Foot binding not only seriously affects the normal development of women's feet, but also makes people form abnormal aesthetic psychology.
2. Art and sports: Foot-binding reduces women's enthusiasm for dance and sports. For example, the dance art imported from China by North Korea and Japan has been developing continuously. On the contrary, in China, the development of dance art has stagnated with the development of foot binding.
3. Foot-binding has seriously violated women's rights.
Foot-binding hinders a woman's every move. A rich lady and socialite has her own maid and servant to drive her car, while ordinary women have to rely on themselves and have to sweep and sit on their knees. What's more, it is necessary to grind, transplant rice seedlings and cut rice. The bitterness and bitterness among them are not clear to those who have experienced it.
5. Foot binding makes women suffer for no reason. Difficulties in walking hinder women's normal participation in social work and social activities. Women are confined in boudoir, ignorant, and have lost their livelihood skills, thus developing dependence, arrogance, inertia and inferiority, which also makes their social status even lower.
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